Improvement in steam-engines



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD C. BARTON, OF TROY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO E. D. BARTON AND W. J.HARLAN, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

IMPROVEMENT IN STEAM-ENGINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 30,373, dated October9, 1860.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD C. BARTON, of Troy, in the county ofRensselaer and State 0f New York, haveiuvented a new and usefulImprovement in Steam-Engines; and I do hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, inwhich- Figure l is a front view of a double steamengine constructedaccording to my invention. Fig. 2 is a side view of one cylinder and itscrank and connections.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in bothfigures.

The principal objects of my invention are, iirst, to enable asteam-engine having a long cylinder, and consequentlyalong stroke ofpiston,to be brought within a comparatively small space, and, secondly,to enable two complete revolutions of the crank-shaft to be produced bythe strokeof the piston back and forth; and my invention consists inconnecting the piston-rod and crank of an engine by means of a system oftoggles and connecting-rods applied and arranged substantially ashereinafter described,whereby the above objects are accomplished and anengine possessing superior qualities for driving the screw propeller isobtained.

A A represent parallel upright standards or side frames erected upon abed-plate, B, and united by transverse cylinder-bearers C Oand bracesDD, the whole combining to constitute the framing of the engine.

E E are the two cylinders, supported side by side in xed horizontalpositions on the bearers C.

F is the crank-shaft,having its axis arranged horizontally andtransversely to the length of the cylinders at some distance below themand nearly opposite to the middle of their length.

G G are the two cranks,arranged one opposite to each cylinder and atright angles to each other.

H H are the two piston-rods, each of which is furnished with across-head, I, at one end. Each cross-head is connected by a pair ofside rods, J J, passing on opposite sides of its respective cylinder,with the joint-pins a of a toggle, K K L, which is composed of a forkedconnecting-rod, L, connecting with its respect ive crank, and two rods,K K, arranged to vibrate upon a fixed horizontal shaft, M, which isarranged in or nearly in the same vertical plane with the crank-shaft ata distance above the cylinder.

The valves and valve-gear employed in connection with an engine havingits parts thus arranged and constructed may be of any suitable kind thatwill cause the induction of steam to the proper end of the cylinder andits eduction from the other end to commence as the piston terminates itsstroke in either direction. The piston in its movement gives motion tothe toggle-joint by its connection at @,and the connecting-rod L,forming the lower arm of the toggle, gives rotary motion to the crank.One stroke of the piston back and forth produces two completerevolutions of the crank, but the single stroke, during which the crankpasses nearest to the cylinder, produces less than one revolution, whilethe return-stroke produces more than one revolution, as may beunderstood by reference to Fig. 2, in which the black outline representsthe condition of the toggle and crank at one end of the stroke and thered lines represent the toggle and crank in the position they occupy atthe other end of the stroke. In order to prevent the unequal velocity ofthe crank,which might be consequent upon this unequal distance moved byit, I consider it always desirable, when practicable, to use two engineseither connected with the same shaft or with two shafts geared together,the cranks being arranged at right angles to each other if upon the sameshaft, or in a corresponding relation if on separate shafts; but asingle engine may be used with a ily-wheel of suitable weight. In theuse of two combined engines they may be arranged with their cylindersside by side, as represented, end to end, or in any other convenientmanner, according to whether their pistons are to be connected with thesame shaft or with two differentshafts, as in the case of working twoserew-propellers arranged one on each side of the central plane of avessel.

The distances moved by the crank in each stroke of the piston will bemore or less nearly equal, according as the connecting-rod L and rods KK are of greater or less length. By the use of very long rods thedistances moved byv the crank in the two strokes may be made very nearlyequal; but shorter rods make the engine more compact.

The stroke of the piston in an engine of this kind cannot be less thanfour times the length of the crank, and with short rods K and L L may beeven six times the length. The advantage of so great a length of strokeconsists in the provision it affords for Working with a high degree ofexpansion. The advantage resulting from obtaining the double revolutionof the crank consistsin its enabling the shaft to be driven at a YhighYvelocity without gearing and in its saving half the steam that isusually lost in the clearances and steam-passages in an engine whosepiston makes one stroke for every revolution. Besides these advantagesthe arrangement of the cranks and connections enable an engine of agiven stroke to be arranged Within the shortest possible 1ongitudinalspace, as room is only required in the direction of the length ofthecylinder for the cylinder and the outward stroke of. the piston-rod fromone end of it.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

The connection of the piston-rod and crank of an engine by means of siderods, J J, and toggle-rods K K L, applied arranged in com binaton withthe cylinder, pistonrod, and crank, substantially as herein specified.

- RICHARD C. BARTON.

Witnesses:

J ortN H. SCOTT, LEWIS W. BENDBR.

